Part deux of my small report on Saturday’s dinner. High-quality wines throughout, and only one corked wine that I can remember – but fortunately for us it wasn’t from our table. Despite it being a level playing field for all, this is where we begged the use of better glassware – these wines would clearly have benefited from it.
1995 Lafarge, Volnay
Medium ruby-red colour. The nose is deep, meaty and leafy – one to keep sniffing. In the mouth there’s plenty of acidity and it’s followed by plenty of action too. Good persistence of flavour and whilst rather unruly, it’s definitely a wine with personality.
Rebuy – Maybe
1996 Engel, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Brûlées
Medium-plus colour. The nose is deep, showing plenty of leaf, undergrowth and a nice spicy element. Very nice acidity and flavours that burst across the mid-palate, then a wave of tannin before fading in the finish. This is a lovely wine and not ‘too’ 1996.
Rebuy – Yes
1996 Arnoux, Vosne-Romanée 1er Les Suchots
Warm and sweet are main thoughts as you bring your nose to this, very pretty if not stunningly effusive. In the mouth it’s sweet and intense – tannic still – and has nice complexity. I don’t find the ‘cut’ and excitement that was evident in the Engel Brûlées, so would much rather drink that today but this is clearly no slouch.
Rebuy – Yes
2000 Dujac, Bonnes-Mares
The nose is wide and surprisingly mineral with understated red fruits – no obvious stems showing here. In the mouth the personality is of a medium-bodied red-fruited wine with tannin that’s hardly worth a mention. Despite its very understated acidity it is both long finishing and not a little mouth-watering. I found this a very good and very approachable wine, though several steps below the quality I might expect given the pricing of more recent vintages.
Rebuy – Yes
1998 JF Mugnier, Musigny
Opened 2 yours before the first pour. Medium colour – ruby but still with cherry-red accents. The nose is deeper and darker than that of the Bonnes-Mares, but less wide. Slowly in the glass the aromas gain width and dimension – I would say very fine. In the mouth my first impression is that it’s a little hard and tight; in tandem with the nose it slowly unwinds, softens and adds width. Another wine where the tannin hardly warrants a mention, though the quality of the wide and creamy finish was streets ahead of the Bonnes-Mares. In this context it was a fine wine, but one that didn’t ‘wow’.
Rebuy – Yes

Favourite of the night? Not easy, but on reflection I’d give it to the Engel for its sheer personality.